Preparation

Before you listen

Comprehension Task

Business notes

In this video Sarah meets Marcia to negotiate on some of the details in her contract.

Companies are often used to people negotiating so, as long as you're realistic and polite, and can justify your requests then it's likely that you will get something out of it.

Negotiating is more than just about your salary though, you can also negotiate on, for example, monthly salary, bonuses, car allowance, pension contributions, healthcare contributions, number of days holiday or even future salary review dates.

Some companies have fixed policies about benefits, depending on the level of the position. This can make negotiation tricky, as the employer may literally have little say over the package. This was the case with Marcia who was unable to offer Sara a higher salary or more days holiday.

If this is the case, simply ask them where they could be flexible - and negotiate from there. Sarah was successful in getting added to a bonus scheme and changing her start date through her persistence.

Transcript

Transcript

Marcia Boardman: Hi! Welcome to WebWare.

Sarah Timms: Thanks, nice to see you again.

Marcia Boardman: You too. So, you said you wanted to come in and have a chat before you started...

Sarah Timms: Yeah, I just wanted to have a look round and ask a few more questions, if I can...

Marcia Boardman: Sure, fire away!

Sarah Timms: Well, I was delighted to receive the job offer...

Marcia Boardman: Good – we were delighted to offer it to you...

Sarah Timms: But before I sign the contract there were one or two specifics I wanted to talk about.

Marcia Boardman: OK... 'specifics'?

Sarah Timms: Well... there is a pay scale, instead of a fixed salary...

Marcia Boardman: Yes, as a new employee you’d be at the lower end of the pay scale.

Sarah Timms: But taking my experience into account...

Marcia Boardman: Well, you haven’t had that much experience – we see you as an investment...

Sarah Timms: But that salary would only be a little more than I’m making now. So, instead of asking for a higher level on the pay scale, I thought this could be compensated by adding certain bonuses - for instance if I make certain sales targets, or even break them, I would be looking for a good cash payment, or stock options in the company.

Marcia Boardman: Well, that is something we sometimes offer senior members of staff, but to show good faith I’ll provisionally offer you the bonus scheme – but I’ll have to okay it with Philip first.

Sarah Timms: That’s fine. I also see there are 25 days holiday.

Marcia Boardman: Yes. That’s standard.

Sarah Timms: It’s not very much for a high pressure job though...

Marcia Boardman: I can’t offer you any more holiday.

Sarah Timms: No, but I was wondering if we could delay my start date, so instead of starting a week from now, as we discussed, I could start in a month’s time?

Marcia Boardman: You’re a tough negotiator, Sarah!

Sarah Timms: That’s one of the reasons you hired me!

Marcia Boardman: Yes, of course. OK, I think we can do that – I’ll look forward to seeing you in a month, and earning those bonuses!

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